The Greek salad was made using the ever delicious Kumato tomatoes, sliced baby peppers, assorted pitted olives, cucumbers, a few whole slit pepperoncini peppers and dressed with drizzles of vinegar, EVOO, and chopped fresh oregano. Toss together, taste, adjust and season with salt and pepper, toss in feta cheese and serve.
The quinoa salad was a very adaptable recipe from Style at Home…
Changes that I made…I used 1 cup Nature’s Earthly quinoa choice that requires a 30 minute soak after rinsing, drain completely and 1 ¾ ounces canned broth.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 large bunch baby asparagus, stalks cut off and cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (about 8 sun-dried tomatoes), plus 2 tbsp oil (reserved to use in dressing) or *optional jarred sun-dried tomato\bruschetta “Delallo”
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
- 1 red onion or white onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese + more for garnish
- 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts for garnish
For the dressing
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
1, Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cool water for at least 2 minutes; drain.
2, Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the drained quinoa and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to toast the grains and evaporate any remaining water.
3. Stir in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside.
5. Steam the asparagus for 2 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Transfer the asparagus to a colander and rinse under ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
6. When cool, combine the quinoa, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, onion and feta cheese in a large bowl.
7. Whisk together the garlic, oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, oregano and basil in a small bowl. Add sea salt and pepper.
8. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. Top with the additional crumbled feta cheese and toasted pine nuts and serve immediately. Prep and cook time: 45 minutes. Serves 8.
Cucina Magia 